


Achievement Unlocked: Adopt a British Kid

by Kurokatana



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Adoption, Child Abandonment, Gay Marriage, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Violence, Sad with a Happy Ending, homeless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-09 07:55:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1974972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kurokatana/pseuds/Kurokatana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Geoff is driving home from work one stormy afternoon, when he notices a small figure cowering in the alley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting in the Alleyway

**Author's Note:**

> Prepare you tear ducts. This will be very sad in the beginning and become happy and beautiful as the story goes on.  
> Also I'm no health expert by any means so some of the medical miracles and wonders in this story may not be realistic, but it's meant to be.  
> I'm still not sure if this will be a short thing or not. I was thinking of making it only one chapter. Then I was like, "Perhaps it should be at least two chapters...but I want the story to develop well and I want to follow the family through this cool journey. Maybe it has to be a lot of chapters."
> 
> ******Edit***** I think I've finally decided on a good theme song for this fic! It's not a popular song at all but hopefully some of you know of it. It's called 'Born to Have it All' and it's by Katie Irving. The song was featured in the 1976 version of the film 'Carrie'. IN CASE you don't care to listen to it, the song is about a girl who has had a life where she wasn't noticed and not treated very well, but she was 'born to have it all'. She is meant to have a much better life than what she has. AND ALTHOUGH Gavin isn't a girl he did have a very rough life a few years before he met the Ramsey's, but he's a sweet and precious child that does deserve a great life.

**Geoff** stopped at the red light twirling the end of his mustache between his fingers as he waited. He happened to glance to the right and for a short moment, so short he had to think to confirm it had really happened, caught a glimpse of a small figured stumbling into an alleyway across the street. Normally Geoff wouldn't concern himself with if, figuring it were a homeless person wandering or a feral animal. But the figure was too big to be a cat or dog, too small to be an adult, and to add onto his curiosity, the figure was shrouded by darkness. So he was hankering to know what it was. When the light flashed green he drove over diagonal from his previous spot. He pulled over so he wasn't in the driving lanes and parked directly next to the sidewalk.   
  
The sky was gray and melancholy today, and huge raindrops were pelting the earth below. Geoff didn't bother to bring his umbrella out of the car with him because he was only a few feet away from the awning of various old buildings smushed together should he need them, and so was the alley. He pulled his hoodie over his head and jogged into the alleyway, stopping at its entrance.  
  
From where he stood, Geoff couldn't make out anything out of the ordinary for an alley. His blue eyes scanned over the boxes, bags and dumpster where he thought the figure could be hiding. He advanced forward in the alleyway, taking cautious steps and looking in every direction in search of the figure. He tripped over a can at some point and struggled to keep from falling on his face.  
  
"Oh shit!" He exclaimed, cursing himself for being louder than he intended. He covered his mouth to stay quiet and hoped he wouldn't cause the mystery being to run off. He heard a whimper come from behind him, assuming whatever it came from was startled by the sudden noise. He spun around and saw the figure huddled next to a dumpster, it's face shrouded by a dark blue hoodie it wore. "Hello...are you okay?" The gent got no response. "Hey. Hey excuse me." He advanced carefully towards the figure, avoiding any objects he could trip on and making sure to make no sudden movements. The figure pressed itself against the dumpster more and more with every step, like it was trying to merge its body with the huge metal thing. As Geoff inched closer he noticed a few things about the figure.  
  
The figure was definitely human he could conclude. He could not decipher the gender just yet, nor the age, but judging my the sound of the whimper and the size of it he assumed it couldn't be an adult. Now he wasn't worried about the person harming him, and he had the confidence to squat next to the figure and lightly touch their shoulder. This caused the figure to flinch and let out another whimper. 

"Hello? What're you doing out here little one?" The person finally showed itself a little, the figured turned slightly to look at Geoff and turned it's head up a bit, but very slowly. The first thing that came into vision was a very large nose with a scratch on it. It was followed by two greenish eyes drained of energy, and a slight tan face smudged with dirt and scars. Tufts of golden hair stuck out from the hoodie the person wore, going to his shoulders. Geoff felt his heart sink when he realized the boy was young and very thin. The boy had to be no older than 13 and even through his big hoodie and baggy pants looked extremely thin.   
  
"Hi buddy, I'm Geoff. Who're you?"   
  
"G-Gavin...I'm called Gavin."  
  
Geoff raised an eyebrow at the boy's strange voice. "I hear an accent, are you from America, Gavin?" Geoff just now noticed the boy was shaking, probably from fear and coldness.  
  
"No." He answered meekly. "Please don't bother me. I don't have anything worth stealing." He clenched a small backpack sat next to him. "I swear."  
  
"Woah woah woah." Geoff tried to sound assuring. "I won't harm you buddy, I promise. But you need to get out of this weather, you'll become sick."  
  
"I can take care of myself. I don't get sick." Gavin sneezed after he said that, as if his body was trying to tell Geoff the boy was lying.  
  
"You seem sick to me. Gavin, please...I'm here to help you. Come with me, my house is 10 minutes away. I'll take you there and we can get you some dry clothes and something to eat. Sound good?" Geoff smiled at him to try and show he was harmless, but to no avail.   
  
"What type of food do you like? Do you like pizza? Or chicken perhaps?" The boy remained stagnant, casting his gaze downward. "Do you like...video games?"  
  
"Video games? Like Xbox and ps3?" Gavin perked up a bit, showing interest now.  
  
"Oh you like video games? I have a lot at home. Xbox, ps3, ps4, you name it. So what do you say? Will you come with me, buddy?"  
  
"Mhmm." Gavin replied a bit less timidly. Geoff and Gavin stood up, but as he got up Gavin dropped back to ground suddenly.  
  
"Gavin? What's wrong?" Geoff didn't need the boy to answer as he heard Gavin's stomach churn, the boy groaned sickly. "When did you last eat, little guy?"   
  
"I," Gavin choked back a sob. "I haven't had real food or clean water in a month."  
  
"What? How have you made it this long?"  
  
"I've been finding food from trash, and water wherever I could. But it's...never enough." Gavin began to weep softly, tears streamed down his face and he tried to wipe them with his soaking wet hoodie. Geoff scooped the small boy up, trying to shield him from the rain as he did so, and placed him in the back seat of the car before driving off to his house.

* * *

 **When** they arrived at his house, Geoff picked up Gavin once again and took him into the living room, placing him on the couch. As he looked around to find a heater and blanket for Gavin, the gent shouted for his husband in the kitchen.  
  
"Jack! Could you get a bowl of soup and a ham sandwich out here please? We've got a visitor." He turned to look and Gavin and smile. "Is that okay buddy?"  
  
Gavin shook his head 'yes' timidly, sniffling and still shivering. "Oh yeah!" Geoff face palmed. "I'll go get you some dry clothes, be right back."  
  
Geoff jogged upstairs and Gavin looked around the house, studying the artwork and furniture around the fairly big house. It was no mansion, but it was rather huge, fit to accommodate a big family. He looked at the tv at his left and saw a XBox one sat in front of it. Suddenly a large man with an orange beard and glasses came into the living room carrying a tray of chicken noodle soup and a large ham sandwich. "Oh hello there." The man greeted the boy nicely. "I'm Jack, what's your name?"  
  
"Hallo...I'm called Gavin Free." Jack pushed the coffee table closer to the Brit and placed the tray down. Jack was surprised with the boy's appearance. He looked as though he had been wandering through mires.  
  
Jack smiled at him and helped him to sit up. "Eat up, I hope you enjoy it."   
  
"T-thank you." Gavin replied meekly and began to eat the soup. Geoff came back down with a few blankets and a change of clothes for Gavin.   
  
"Hey Gavin, I have some more clothes for you, whenever you're ready to put them on." Gavin scooted the coffee table away from him and reached up to attain the clothes from Geoff. He thanked the man as he peeled off the dirty hoodie and t-shirt he had on. Geoff and Jack turned away from the small boy and gave each other puzzled looks as Gavin took off his pants and underwear. Not bothering to put on the new clothes yet, he wrapped the blanket around him and with much effort lowered his frail body to the ground to be more level with his food and began to eat again.  
  
"Geoff, Jack? Can I take a bath after I've eaten?"  
  
"Of course Gavin," Jack replied sweetly. "we'll go draw you up a nice warm bath." Jack took Geoff's hand and led him up the stairs towards the bathroom, where he turned on the hot tap and began to pour a small cup of bubble bath into the tub.  
  
"So Geoff..." The bearded gent began.  
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Where did Gavin come from? He doesn't seem to be from here, and he looks like he hadn't eaten in weeks. And his clothes...where did you meet him?"  
  
"That's because he hasn't. Poor little guy told me he hadn't eaten anything but spoiled food and dirty water for a month, it's a miracle he's still living. But he isn't able to stand very long on his own at this point it's just horrible Jack. I can't imagine what's it been like for him."  
  
Jack pulled to older man into a hug, stroking his back to calm him. "I know, it's awful. We should take him to the doctor tomorrow and get him to a healthy state again. Then see if we can find his parents, wherever they may be."  
  
"I don't got any parents." The two men jumped out of their embrace and turned around to a crying Gavin still wrapped in the blanket and leaning against the doorway.  
  
"What?" Geoff asked.  
  
"I don't have parents. They've left me." He answered in between his sobs, he sunk down to the ground as Geoff and Jack came and sat next to him, tears and snot dripping down his face.  
  
"We used to be such a lovely family back in England. But for some reason, I don't know why, but my father started to drink beer a lot. He didn't used to, but he just started to out of the blue and he got drunk lots of times. He and my mum started to fight all the time and finally she couldn't take it anymore. One night she was tucking me into bed telling me she loves me, and the next day I wake up to my father screaming from the front door and my mom driving down the street. I never saw her again." Geoff and Jack were taken aback by what they'd just heard. Who could leave such a cute and precious child like that they thought  
  
"My father grew depressed after she left us, and began to drink more. He would hurt me to feel better. This went on for years." He winced at the memory. "He struck me with the belt a lot, or he hit me with a baton. One day..." He inhaled trying to brace himself for the terrible memory. "he got us plane tickets to come here for a vacation, and I was happy. I thought he would be good dad again. We had a hotel room in this city somewhere and I fell asleep to him stroking my hair telling me he loved me...and that was the last time I saw him. I woke up the next morning and I couldn't find him, I asked the hotel clerk about him and all of the people in the rooms next to us. Nothing. I even tried showing his picture around town but no one had seen him. I think he went back to England without me."  
  
Geoff and Jack were holding the small boy in a big hug now, they all sat on the ground weeping and rocking back and forth together. They remained this way for a few minutes until Jack remembered the running bath water and went to turn it off. The two men left the room and closed the door so Gavin could take his bath. 

* * *

" **What** type of sick bastards, heartless creatures would abandon such a precious little boy?" Geoff pounded the dining room table in anger. "It's just...I can't."  
  
"Sub-human scum, pathetic soulless beings..." Jack replied. "I just can't imagine how twisted a human being would have to be to do that. Geoff, do you know how old Gavin is?" Just before Geoff could respond and tell his husband he wasn't sure, someone came through the living room door.

"I'm hooooome!"   
  
"Hey, Ryan," Jack greeted his eldest son. "how was school today?"  
  
"Uneventful, but pleasant." He answered, grabbing a coke from the fridge and pointing towards the living room floor, where Gavin's old clothes still lay. "But uh, what's with the pile of dirty clothes in the living room?" Geoff came over to his son and explained the story of the little British boy, struggling to not cry again. Ryan was a tough 16 year old boy, who hadn't cried since he'd broken his leg when he was 7. But the story made him shed a few tears and hug his father as he did.   
  
"Bless his heart...so where's the little guy now?" Ryan sniffled.  
  
"Upstairs," Jack replied. "we put him in your bed after he got done with his bath, we figured you wouldn't mind."  
  
"Oh, no I don't. I'm gonna just go see him." Ryan flung his varsity jacket and backpack on the couch and started up the stairs. He went down the hall and peeked his head in the bedroom, looking down to see the small Gavin wearing his old Minecraft shirt from when he was smaller, and a pair of his old black sweat pants.   
  
He was a cute little boy, Ryan thought as he looked at the kid sleeping in his bed. His collarbone length dark blonde hair pooled all around his tan face, which was thin and sunken a little, Ryan shed a single tear imagining the pain and starvation the boy went through. He looked so peaceful as he slept and the pink and orange rays of the sun setting came through the window and shone on his slender body. Ryan moved to the side of the bed and pulled a blanket over Gavin to help him stay warm. Then Ryan turned around to creep out of the room but was stopped in his tracks by a small voice behind him.   
  
"Hallo." Gavin cooed. "I'm Gavin. Is this your bed? I'll get up if you need to use it."  
  
"Hello Gavin," Ryan turned and knelt so that he was at eye level with the boy. "my name is Ryan, and no I was just coming up to check on you. Please go back to sleep, okay?"  
  
"How old are you?" Gavin asked, apparently not going back to sleep yet.  
  
"I'm 16. How about you Gavin?"  
  
"I'm...I'm 14." Ryan was surprised. He was a good height for 14, the blue eyed boy supposed, but he was really thin and had a youthful looking face. "Why have you come to check in on me?"  
  
"Because I wanted to see if you were okay."   
  
"Why?" Gavin blinked befuddled.  
  
"Because I want you to be okay."  
  
"Is it...is it because you care for me?"  
  
"Yes, of course I do." Gavin did not cry, he made no noises or sobbed but when he heard Ryan say this- his eyes began to water. When he blinked the tears ran down his face. "What's wrong, Gavin?"  
  
"What of Geoff and Jack? Do they care for me as well?"  
  
"Yes, Gavin." Ryan reached out to stroke the lad's beautiful locks. "I have five brothers and a sister, and when they come home from school and meet you they'll care for you."  
  
"The last time someone told me that..." Gavin sniffled. "I woke up and I never saw them again.  
  
"We aren't going to do that Gavin, I promise."  
  
"R-really? Will you lay down with me then? Please?"  
  
"Aww sure thing, Gavin." Ryan took off his shoes and socks and climbed into the full size bed next to Gavin. He wrapped the two of them in the blankets to secure them and making sure they were warm. Gavin snuggled into the older boy and rested his head on Ryan's chest. Ryan gently ran his fingers through the boy's hair, humming a tune Jack taught him when he was really young, called 'It's a Jungle Out There.'  
  
He did this to soothe the Brit into peaceful slumber, and didn't stop until he fell asleep himself.


	2. Le Wild Family Appears!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the rest of the Ramsey-Pattillo household!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited to release this chapter there's probably a few typos and stuff, I'll go back and fix that later. It's not that exciting but it's cute.

**Ryan** woke up to the smell of food downstairs, the aroma creeping ever so gently into his nostrils. He tried to roll over and exit the bed, but remembered a certain British boy he'd met and fallen asleep with four hours ago. That certain British boy was also clinging to him tightly, so tight that it surprised Ryan that his grip was so strong even in sleep. He attempted to ease out of the lad's grip, but his effort was in vain. So he decided to wake Gavin and bring him downstairs with him.

"Gavin? Gavin wake up buddy, it's time for dinner." The boy groggily lolled his head from side to side, yawning and beginning to stretch. When his eyes finally opened, he was facing away from Ryan so he was in a bit startled at first for he thought the boy had left. But the older boy spoke again and he sighed in relieve. "We should go downstairs Gavin, it's dinnertime. It smells like dad's makin' something really good."

Gavin got up from the bed to follow Ryan out but after a few steps collapsed onto his knees. Ryan turned around to the thump behind and went to Gavin's aid, worry in his eyes. "What's wrong Gavin?"

"I'm not in the best of the health." He said timidly, avoiding the older teen's blue eyes.

"Alright, how about you stay in bed and I'll bring your food up to you?"

The Brit's eyes suddenly shot open three times wider and a look of fear shrouded his face. He grabbed Ryan's pant leg to make sure he didn't move. "N-no...why have you got to leave me?"

"I'm just gonna go downstairs quickly to get you some food, and I'll even eat up here with you. Okay?" Gavin didn't respond verbally, he only replaces his grip on Ryan's leg with a hug around it to ensure he couldn't walk away. "Okay, well I'll ask someone to bring the food up for us." Before Ryan could call out to someone downstairs, Jack and Geoff entered the bedroom with several children in tow.

"HI GAVIN!" All the children said in unison, sweet smiles on their faces.

Gavin waved shyly and gave a quiet 'Hallo' before Jack placed a plate of chicken, macaroni and cheese, smashed potatoes, and okra in front of him on he floor. "We heard you guys wake up so we saved y'all the trouble of coming downstairs." the bearded man said. "And you get to meet the rest of us. Gavin, meet Ray, Kdin, Caleb, Michael, Lindsay, and Kerry." Each child greeted the green eyed teen as their name was called.

 

They all sat on the floor eating and talking to Gavin, asking him questions and answering his. Gavin enjoyed talking to the children and learning about them, he was delighted to hear their stories and see how they interacted with each other. He learned that Michael and Kdin were 14 like him, while Ray, Lindsay, Kerry, and Caleb were 12. He learned they all had various hobbies and clubs they were a part of. Caleb, Kerry, and Kdin played soccer, and Michael was on the wrestling team at school. Ryan played football and also attended an after school club for computer animating. Lindsay was on the school's volleyball team and Ray ran Cross Country. But one thing they all had in common, including Geoff and Jack, was they all had a love for video games. 

"So Gavin," Michael said in between bites of his macaroni. "what type of video games do you like?"

Gavin thought of a few video games he liked that other people would probably like too, hoping that they would have the game he mentions. "Minecraft, Halo, GTA..."

"We have all of those! When we're done eating we can all go play!" Lindsay interjected happily. "What do you want to play first Gavin?"

"Umm...Minecraft." He said quietly, smiling up at Lindsay and Michael.

They all continued to talk about video games and thing they liked until they all finished their meals gathered their dishes to clean up. Gavin rode piggy back on Ryan as they all went to clean all the dishes and then went down a hall on the main floor to a fairly large room filled with laptops, desktops, and all kinds of gaming systems. Gavin was surprised at the sight, even though he played video games he'd never known a household to own so many. Ryan sat him down in a chair and sat in between him and Kdin. Kdin handed Gavin a controller and they all sat back as Ray started up the game. They all had their signature Minecraft skin, and now Gavin needed one.

"Who are you usually, Gavin?" Caleb asked trying to get a conversation started with the boy.

"The creeper. It's my favorite." He replied. The Ramsey family wanted to make the British boy feel welcomed, and make sure he was comfortable. They tried everything to make the lad talk around them and break out of his shell, but they were understanding as they knew he'd been through a lot. Caleb offered to build a castle with Gavin, to which he happily agreed. They built the castle out of cobblestone and different colors of wool, and just when they were done Michael came and dumped a bucket of lava right on top of it. He busted out into laughter and grinned over at Gavin to show he was just kidding, then help him a Caleb build a better. 

After a few hours of causing chaos and numerous calamities, Geoff announced it was time to go to bed, as they all had school tomorrow. The house was pretty big, it had a total of five bedroom and four bathrooms. There was a living room with a archway connecting it to the kitchen/dining room. There was a two car garage, the video game room, and a small library/office. Jack and Geoff shared one bedroom, Michael and Kdin were adopted around the same time and they were the same age, so they shared a room. Ray, Kerry, and Caleb shared one of the larger bedrooms for the same reason. Lindsay had her own bedroom because she was the only girl, and 'she just  _has_ to be spoiled more than everyone else.' as Jack always says. Ryan had always had his own room because he was the oldest and adopted first, so it was just always this way. But this changed because he decided to sleep with Gavin again, since the boy was used to him more. Gavin happily obliged and let Ryan carry him into the bed. And he fell asleep, once again clinging onto the older teen.


	3. Doctor Burns and Ms. Shadowlz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin goes to the doctor to see about his physical condition, and later a visit from a peculiar woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not as happy with how this chapter is, but it foreshadows some stuff later on in the story, so I feel it was important to include.

**Ryan** was startled by shouting coming from upstairs. He placed the skillet of ham he was cooking on an inactive burner and rushed up the stairs to a panicking Gavin.   
"Ryaaan!" The precious boy sobbed. "Where have you gone Ryan?!"  
  
"Gavin." Ryan sat on the bed and pulled the hysteric boy into a hug. "I'm here buddy, what's got you so worked up?"  
  
"R-Ryan," He replied in between gasps and sobs. "you told me yesterday when I was in bed that you all care for me."  
  
"Yes we do, Gavin."  
  
"The last people to tell me that were mum and dad, and I woke up the next day and they were..." The crying boy leaned into Ryan's embrace and cried harder. "I thought you all had left me too."  
  
"Dad is at work, one works in the morning and one works in the afternoon. And the other kids went to school. I stayed home today to make sure you'd be okay when you woke up, because I care for you. I promise we won't do that to you Gavin, we lov..." Ryan began to sniffle, and despite how hard he tried, he soon found himself crying right along with Gavin. Gavin cried at the never dying memory of losing his parents, and the fear that these new people would leave him as well.   
  
Ryan wept at the frail and sick body that was trembling in his arms. Ryan wept with concern for the body, he feared for his well being and health. And wept in admiration of the body's ability to still function in his broken state. Ryan wept for the darkness in man's heart, and the hardships of the sweet boy called Gavin. He rocked the two of them back and forth until they calmed down and just as they did Jack came into the room.   
  
"Ryan? Gavin? What's the matter?"  
  
"N-nothing dad I- we..."  
  
"I just had a small nightmare." Gavin fibbed. "And it made Ryan sad as well." Jack knew there was more to it, but seeing as they'd calmed down he decided to not worry about it. He smiled at the two boys. Especially Gavin, envying how even with his physical and mental state at an all time low, the boy was still gorgeous and beamed an aura of blissful ignorance and purity.   
  
Jack guessed that the boy must have always been an innocent and clingy child that was used to being pampered by his parents. Sheltered so that even though his academic intelligence exceeded most 14 year olds (he concluded by witnessing Gavin read, write, and express knowledge of someone much older than him yesterday.) he was still very childlike in other ways. Those 4 weeks on the streets must have shattered his mental state to some degree.  
  
"So dad," Ryan broke the silence. "I'm making breakfast today, then afterward we should all play some GTA."  
  
"I'd love to, but after breakfast we actually have to go somewhere else."  
  
"Where?" Gavin asked curiously.  
  
"The doctor. We have to make sure you're well, Gavin." The boy whimpered at this and covered himself with the blankets. "Gavin, the doctor will be fun, and you'll feel great afterwards, then afterwards we can go get something at a restaurant."  
  
"Can we get ice cream and other treats?" The Brit peaked his head out from under the covers.  
  
"Of course, whatever you...and Ryan want. So let's go eat some of Ryan's delicious breakfast." Jack picked up the boy and followed Ryan down the stairs and into the kitchen.   
  
"What would you like Gavin?" Ryan turned towards the boy at the table from where he stood at the stove. "We have eggs, bacon, bagels, toast, grits, ham...um-milk, orange juice, or water."  
  
"May I have some of everything?" He turned to Jack adding on. "If that's okay."  
  
"That's absolutely okay, Gavin. Eat as much as you can." The bearded gent smiled. He was surprised at how much food the boy could shovel down in one meal, but he assumed it was because he had been without 'food' food for so long. He remembered a picture Gavin had shown everyone yesterday that was in his small backpack he had when Geoff found him; it was a picture of him from a few month ago when he was still in England, and Jack saw that the boy was naturally thin. It was frightening how much thinner he looked now, he couldn't wait to get the boy back to normal health.  
  
"Thank you." Gavin said out of the blue.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Thank you. And thank you too, Ryan. And I want to thank the whole family for being so nice to me and not leaving me."  
  
"Aww you're welcome, buddy." Ryan said as he placed two plates of food down for Gavin, then two for Jack, and two for himself. They all ate like kings that morning. 

* * *

 **When** they arrived at the hospital's front entrance, Ryan sat Gavin down in one of the random wheelchairs they have for guests at the doors. Jack went up to the receptionist to make what this hospital called a 'flash appointment', for people who weren't an absolute emergency but still needed a doctor fairly badly. After 45 minutes in the waiting room a blonde female doctor with a clipboard came from a door in the room and beckoned for the trio to follow her.  
  
"Alright," she smiled at Jack who was clearly the adult. "who are we looking at today?"  
  
"This little guy." He signaled towards a wheelchair bound Gavin who gave his signature shy 'hallo' to the doctor.   
  
The doctor led them into a small room with the traditional little bed with white wax paper covering it, a few chairs for relatives of the patient, a rolling stool for the doctor, some cabinets and several other medical-y things and stuff.  
  
"I'm Doctor Dunkelman." She said sweetly to the Brit. "And who're you?"  
  
"I'm Gavin..." He paused for a moment as though thinking. "Gavin Ramsey." Jack and Ryan were a bit surprised with the answer, but they said nothing about it. As a matter of fact, they were flattered.  
  
"Nice to meet you Gavin, so how old are you?"  
  
"14."  
  
"Okay, I'm going to take some vital signs for you now, just a few little things." Dr.Dunkelman took the boy's blood pressure, listened to his heart, looked in his nose, eyes and ears with a small device that shined a light, and then took his height and weight. She left the room for a moment and then returned.  
  
"Alright..." The doctor looked to Gavin smiling innocently. "We are going to send you to another room where you'll get some food to help you feel better. Does that sound okay?"  
  
Gavin only nodded, and after he did a tall dark haired man with glasses came into the room and greeted Gavin. "Hey there, I'm Dr.Burns. You must be Gavin?"  
  
"Hi. Yes I am."   
  
"Okay well we're going to take you to a room where we're going to give you some food with medicine in it, and then run some test and make sure you're healthy and well. Sound good." Gavin nodded at Dr.Burns and he smiled in return. He then rolled the green eyed teen out of the room and down the hall, Ryan gave a worried look towards the door.   
  
"Don't worry," Dr. Dunkelman said, sensing the other two's concern. "the food contains several supplements such as vitamins a,b,c,d, and protein. As well zinc and biotin. It's just to give him a jumpstart to recovery."  
  
Jack gave the woman a curious look. "Recovery from what exactly?"  
  
"Mr. Ramsey...Gavin's vital signs show he had been severely malnourished. His blood pressure is very low, his heartbeat is a bit weak, and the main red flag is his physical appearance. A 14 year old who is 5'5'' should way 25 pounds more than he does at the least." She paused a moment. "What...what has happened to your son?"  
  
"Well," Jack began. "He's not actually my son exactly. You see he's from England and while on a trip to, well, here with his father a month ago, he was... abandoned. My husband found him is terrible health in an alleyway on a rainy day."  
  
"My god..." The doctor had a look of sorrow and sympathy overcome her face. "The poor child, such horrible humans beings to do that to their kid. Well, I wondered why he had an accent and you two didn't."  
  
"What's wrong with Gavin?" Ryan asked suddenly.  
  
"He's definitely suffering from malnutrition, that's a no brainer. We have to test for pneumonia, tetanus, kidney failure and bronchitis. A host a conditions one can get from being in the conditions you've just described. I'm going to go tell Dr. Burns this new information, and you two can come with me to see Gavin." After talking with Dr. Burns for a moment the blonde doctor came over to Jack to describe Gavin's condition. "Gavin is showing many symptoms of Pneumonia and Bronchitis so we're going to do a sputum test, a simple way to see if he's got it. We're also going to give him a vaccine to prevent tetanus and treat it should he already have it, we don't wanna waste time testing for it because chances are he does and it needs to be treated ASAP."  
  
"What about other conditions?" He scratched his orange beard, taking in all the information.  
  
"He doesn't seem to be showing symptoms of anything else, if he does bring him back in. Sputum test can take 1-8 weeks on average so until then..." She handed Jack a pamphlet. "follow the instructions in this."  
  
Jack thanked the doctor as she walked away towards the culturing lab with a sample of Gavin's mucus. He looked over at Gavin who was playing chess with Ryan in the corner. "Okay boys, we can go now. Where do you want to go to eat?"  
  
"I beat Ryan in chess," The British boy smiled slightly. "so he said I can pick. I wanna go to a ice cream shop."   
  
Ryan ruffled the boy's hair and made it messy. "Kid's smart." He shrugged. 

* * *

 **At** the parlor the three sat eating their ice cream, having at least 4 different flavors each. People walking by would occasionally stop and stroke Gavin's cheek, pet his hair, or compliment Jack on him.   
  
 _"Your son his adorable, sir!"_

_"Such long lovely hair."_

_"He's just absolutely precious."_

_"How old is this little guy?"_  
  
Gavin could only blush and duck his head down at the attention while Ryan laughed and Jack politely thanked the strangers. It was a bit confusing for the three. Gavin was a 14 year old teenager, not a little boy. Sure he was as thin as a small boy, but his height should give it away that he's not. Sure he acted like one but how would strangers know that? Perhaps it was his cute youthful face with it's gentle features and long hair that made him look so youthful, and because he was sitting down no one cared to see how long his legs were.  
  
"People are petting me like I'm a bunny." Gavin whined. "I don't like it."  
  
"Well then give me your cuteness," Ryan teased, making the Brit blush deeper pink. "I would welcome the attention."  
  
"Well, you're 16, pretty much a young man, and you look much older than you are anyway." Jack replied. Ryan just shrugged and finished his last bowl of ice cream. The trio left and then headed back home, because Jack had to get ready for work.

   
  
 **They** were greeted by Ray at the door who put his fingers up to his lips and beckoned them to follow him inside quietly. "Dad's talking to some lady in the dining room."  
  
"Who?" Jack whispered.   
  
"She's here about Gavin, I don't know who she is."  
  
"Me?" Gavin squawked a bit louder than he meant to. "What business has she got with me?" He follow Jack to the kitchen on the crutches he'd got from the hospital. When he got into the dining room Geoff was sitting with a prim looking woman at the table with Michael standing next to him. When the bespectacled boy saw Gavin he came over to him to ask where he'd been.  
  
"Um Gavin," Geoff looked up at the boy. "Ms. Shadowlz is here to talk to you."  
  
"Why?" Gavin asked, gripping Michael's shoulder. "What have I done wrong?"  
  
The persnickety lady looked up at the boy and faked a friendly smile. "You're not in trouble, Gavin. I just need to ask you some questions and such. If you'd sit down we can begin and we'll be done shortly." Gavin eased himself as gracefully as he could into the chair closest to him and rubbed his arm nervously. Geoff went to go play outside with Kdin and Kerry so he could give the two their privacy, and Jack just left for work. Gavin felt like he wanted to cry at the lonely feeling until he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Ryan, Lindsay, Ray, and Michael standing around him. "Now children," Ms. Shadowlz snapped. "this is none of your concern. I'm here to talk to Gavin, nothing more."  
  
"What's it matter if we're just standing here?" Michael frowned. "We're here to be with Gavin...'nothing more'."  
  
"Please," Lindsay interjected. "we just want Gavin to be comfortable, and he's comfortable with us...as we are with him." The woman scoffed and picked up a stack of papers. She adjusted her glasses and began to speak.  
  
"So Gavin...what is your legal last name?"  
  
"Free."  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"14."  
  
"Where are you from?"  
  
"Oxfordshire, England."  
  
"And how long have you been a resident of America?"  
  
"I've been here for a month, but I am not citizen." Gavin said as seriously as he could, he didn't want the lady to see the nervousness washing over him. "I was...left here."  
  
"How so?" Be quirked her eyebrow curiously.  
  
"I came here to vacation with my father, and one day I woke up and he was nowhere to be found."  
  
"How do you know he abandoned you?"  
  
"I asked the hotel clerk if he'd seen my father, showed his picture and told him my father's name. The clerk told me he'd checked out hours ago and hadn't seen him since. I asked round town and no one had seen him. So I'm sure he's left this city and returned to England."  
  
"It's hard to believe that a man would do that to his child, and in such a way, are you lying to me Gavin?"  
  
"Absolutely NOT." He shot the lady an annoyed look. "Believe it or not it's what happened. My father had become abusive in the last three years we lived together, after my mum up and left us."  
  
"'Up and left?'"  
  
"Dad had started drink and fighting with my mum, after some time she couldn't take it anymore and just...left."  
  
"So after you couldn't find your father, what did you do?"  
  
"I'd never been on my own, I didn't know what to do. I wandered around finding things to eat when I could, and finding refuge in any abandoned buildings I could. I didn't think to ask anyone for help because I was too scared."  
  
"Why didn't seek out a children's shelter?"  
  
"A what?"  
  
Ms. Shadowlz rolled her eyes. "A place where homeless children can seek refuge?"  
  
"Oh," Gavin thought how stupid he was for not knowing such a place existed, and wished he had. But he figured it didn't matter now, beside he wouldn't have met Geoff if he did. "I'm afraid I'd never heard of such a place." The shelter and spoiled boy replied.  
  
"Never heard of it or didn't want to go to it?"  
  
"Why would I purposely wander round outside, nearly dying..." Gavin had almost had it with this woman, and found new strength to speak up. This surprised the four kids behind him, they'd never heard him speak so loud and so much. "if I knew of a sanctuary I could just walk into."  
  
"So, I don't know...they wouldn't force you to contact your dad."  
  
It was Gavin's turn to raise hi eyebrow "Why would they do that?"   
  
"So he could come pick you up after you tried to run away."  
  
Michael punched the table. "You're accusing him of bein' some kinda stowaway?!" He snarled at the woman. "Gavin is a good kid, he wouldn't lie about that you witch! Besides, _where_ in Austin Texas is there a shelter?"  
  
"Some children will do anything to escape an abusive parent." She glared at the Brit. "Even if it means starving on the streets. Now I will admit to you the only shelter "  
  
"I think you should leave." Ryan gestured towards the front door. "This talk is over. I'll call the police if you don't leave."  
  
"Me? For what?" She sneered eerily at the blue eyed young man.  
  
"You're harassing Gavin. This goes beyond asking him a few questions. Now GO." The lady got up from the chair and strutted towards the door, slamming it shut behind her. Ryan turned around to Gavin, only to find him shaking in Lindsay's arms, from anger and frustration. 


	4. Why Have They Come?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family goes out for a night on the town, and they get a lot of unwanted attention. And no, it's not just random passersby admiring Gavin's good looks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys want to see my favorite picture of young Gavin? The reason I portray him as looking so flawless and cute and handsome in the story?
> 
> Go to this link: http://leefi.tumblr.com/post/52683433935/acetaminophens-young-gavin-free-appreciation
> 
> **P.S. The picture that's my favorite is the really bright one in the bottom right corner.
> 
> I hope you all see his beauty as much as I do. :D Oh yeah and uh-enjoy the new chapter and, er, stuff.

**A Month** had past since the meeting in the alleyway and the encounter with Ms. Shadowlz, and that was the last problem they had as of now. Life at the Ramsey household was progressing on swimmingly, and the stitches that held the family together were only pulled tighter (as impossible as it seemed) because of a new addition. A lovely young Englishman called Gavin.

 

Gavin got his test results back a week or so later, and it was concluded he had pneumonia. When it didn't go away in the time doctors anticipated he was admitted to the hospital where he stayed for a week. The family came to visit him everyday and made sure he was never lonely; if Gavin was awake, they were all there except when one of the gents had to go to work. He started to gain weight finally and although he was still slender, he wasn't the walking skeleton he originally was. He was able to walk independently again and even run, but Jack insisted he not run too much until more time has passed. Gavin didn't mind this at all, whenever he had to walk somewhere Ryan would always carry the lad on his back except at school. 

The family had not yet legally adopted him, for they saw no reason. There was nothing they couldn't do for Gavin that he needed or wanted that required Jack and Geoff to be his legal guardians. They enrolled the lad in school as Gavin Ramsey, and entered the ninth grade with Kdin and Michael, but after several placement tests that showed his proficiency in academics he was able to skip a grade and found himself in most of Ryan's classes. Gavin was an instant sensation at the high school, his politeness, silly personality, British accent, and his otherworldly cute appearance made him the center of attention and he instantly became friends with Ryan's friends. The blue eyed older teen always grinned when he saw Gavin talking and laughing with their friends, seeing the boy breaking out of his depression and beginning to show who he really was: a jovial, funny, and loud young man who nobody could resist loving. 

Jack and Geoff bought Gavin everything he needed and whatever he asked for. They bought a bed for the lad who now shared a room with Ryan, and even though his bed was comfy and nice he still liked to sleep with Ryan every so often. They bought him electronics, clothes, video games and things, Gavin's personal favorite was a macPro. He asked if he could be enrolled in a photography and film club, and needless to say he was the very next day. They even updated their default shopping list to accommodate his needs and wants. Anyone could guess Gavin was spoiled by the two gents, but so was every other child in the household. Gavin had conformed to the ways of the Ramsey home so that he, like everyone else, had a different hobby he enjoyed to do with a specific person.

 The one month anniversary of his joining the family was also his 15th birthday and he made of list of things he wanted. He wanted to go to a technology museum, then a Hungarian restaurant. He wrote that he wanted his gifts to be a surprise. And a surprise they were. Gavin got a creeper plushie toy, a giant stuffed bear who he named Gog Foggler, a host a new video games for XBox and PS4, a pet hamster who he named Spudge Funker, and a very high tech camera with endless features. 

The children all piled into the large SUV. Jack and Geoff up front, Ryan(with Gavin on his lap) and Michael sat in the second row directly behind the driver and passenger seat because they were the biggest of the kids. The rest of them piled like sardines in the backseat, Kdin, Caleb, and Ray sat in sat in the very back with Kerry and Lindsay sitting on top of them. They were squished together like sardines to say the least but they didn't mind, they'd sat like this for years. As Jack started up the engine Michael gazed out of the window and saw a peculiar sight.

"Who the heck are those schmucks?" Everyone looked at the house through the windows. In the lawn stood two men dressed sort of formally, business like. Geoff rolled down his window and stuck his head out.

"Hey can I help you guys?" The two men disregarded him, not even looking in his direction. They began to meander around the yard and occasionally stopped to look at various features of the place, studying every lawn ornament and looking up at the house as though to try and memorize it's pink-red bricks and oblong white pane windows. "Hey! That's residential property." Geoff raised his voice a notch in annoyance. The two men once again ignored the blue eyed gent but did finally leave the yard and walked up the street. The kids talked among themselves, muttering and wondering.

_'Who were they?'_

_'Were they really just wandering through the yard like that?'_

_'Should we call the police and report trespassing?_ ' Said another.

"It doesn't matter now," Jack interjected. "they're gone now. And as long as they keep away it's nothing we need to be concern with," He put the car in drive and began to drive down the street, the opposite way of the two men.

* * *

**Once** at the museum, the children practically scattered through the place, going their separate ways to see their separate interests. Gavin just stood at the entrance of the vast building, astonished by the beauty of it all. His green eyes took in the shining white walls and linoleum floors, the unusual pieces of work hanging from the ceiling by invisible thread, and the flawless robot models and technologies from days that were before. He didn't know where to start to look but was dragged along by Ryan and Michael to an area that showed the evolution of computers. They looked in awe at the oldest computer model. A huge panel with different wires and outlets for huge plugs to go in, and then a strange device with different sticks, dials, handles and things that the three boys didn't even try to understand.

"Alright well I've lost interest," Michael said unceremoniously. "let's check out the robots."

"No." Ryan replied. "I think that we should look at the video game exhibit, don't you wanna see the evolution of our favorite thing?"

"But Micool, Ryan, let's go look some filmography stuff, yea? I wanna look at the history of cameras and filming."

Michael crossed his arms. "Well I don't wanna look at cameras. You too can look at that, but I'M gonna go check out something that's actually cool here." And the curly haired brunette walked off. Ryan was about to walk off himself but suddenly felt an additional 115 pounds latch onto his leg. He looked down and sighed.

"No  _why_ Gavin..?"

"Ryaaaaaaan. Let's go to the film exhibit. I wanna see cameras."

"Then go look at cameras, you don't need someone with you to do that." Ryan grunted as he tried to walk, dragging his other leg behind him. "C'mon Gav, you're making it hard to walk."

"I DO need someone with me!" The Brit whined. "The cameras, Ryan! The cameraaaaaas! I will _not_ let go until you come to see the bloody film stuff with me." 

Ryan dragged the lad and himself all the way to the video game exhibit before Ryan was panting lightly. "Dang it..."he looked down at the boy on his leg, who was smiling up at him with his goofy but heart warming grin and hopeful eyes. "Don't give me that look Gavin, that's for little kids." Gavin widen his eyes a bit and his smile turned into a pout with the bottom lip sticking out. "Gavin..." Ryan continued to look at the brit pleading with his eyes, until he finally threw his arms up. "Fine. We'll go to see your cameras."

"Top! Thanks Ryan!" Gavin released the older boy and took his hand, leading him towards to Filmography exhibit. They passed Michael who was looking up at a prehistoric model of a somewhat humanoid robot and Gavin used his other hand to grab the bespectacled boy. "C'mon Micool, we're gonna go see some stuff."

"I don't care about 'the pret'y lit'le cameras', Gavin." Michael mocked with a fake British accent. "You're being such a baby why do you need to have someone with you?"

Gavin turned his head to look at the boy with a cheeky smile. "I don't  _need_ you two to come with me, you silly sausages...I simply want to show my brothers some of the things I love." Michael had already been thinking of a rude comment to throw back at Gavin before he even finished what he was saying, but at the words 'my brothers' he couldn't help but smile back at the silly Brit. Michael felt a light warming sensation sweep over his heart.

"Well if you want to so badly, who're we to deny you that? It had better not be boring, though." Ryan replied as he squeezed Gavin's hand harder. He felt it as well.

 

All the Filmography exhibit was was many pedestals holding different models of camera that had existed through out time. There were plaques with descriptions of them, as well as video cameras that were on and running, with a side of it's covering removed so one could see the gears and things working within them. There were several projectors set up where one could see what movies looked like in their oldest and newest states, and even an interactive part where you could take pictures with a camera from any era. Gavin was in heaven. He read every description, studied every camera, and took a picture with every camera tourist were permitted to. By the end of the little adventure he had about 10 pictures with him, Ryan, and Michael with all kinds of filters and properties. As much as the other two teens wanted to see other things, they found it nearly impossible to condemn anything the Brit said.

Ryan nudged Michael's arm as they stood back and watched Gavin ask the tour guide endless questions. "Isn't he just precious, Micool?"

"Psh. For a moron." Michael mumbled as he blushed. He wouldn't admit it but he did indeed find the silly boy precious and very dear to him.

Ryan only chuckled in response, looking around the museum from where they stood. ' _What the...?'_ the young man thought. Had he really just seen that, or was he so concentrated on looking at displays his eyes just tricked him? "Hey Michael, look over there." Ryan bent down so his chin rested on the curly haired lad's shoulder and he pointed at something off in the distance. 

"What is it?"

"See that man over there? Next to the rocket model? Where have you seen him before?" Michael studied the man for a few seconds. Micheal knew him.

"That's the bastard from earlier who was in our yard! I see his buddy isn't with him." He looked around he and Ryan, expecting to see the other one around them somewhere. "What's that asshole doing...?"

Ryan looked at the man and shrugged, turning back to his brother. "He  _looks_  like he's looking at space technology, can't say I believe that's why he's here however. But what?!"

"Maybe dad or father has some bills to pay, and they're stalking them to scare them into paying."

"I...I can't say I think that's likely, Michael."

"Why the fuck not?" Michael snapped.

"Well for one, they haven't had any problems paying bills before. Second reason." Ryan pointed to Gavin. "It's  _a certain British boy_ they keep staring at."

 "Gavin!" Michael beckoned him towards them. "C'mere boi." Gavin smiled and walked over towards the two boys. From his peripheral he could see the man's head turn slightly as Gavin moved, and his temper started to rise.

"Hi Micool." 

"Hey Gavvy." Michael hugged the boy tightly. "Father said it's time to go." While still in the embrace, and Gavin's back facing Ryan Michael gave the older teen a look and pointed towards where Geoff and Jack stood. Ryan nodded knowingly and turned to go get them. "But wanna look at a few more dumb cameras before then? We have a few minutes." Gavin nodded and the two walked over to some of the displays.

"Dad? Father? I think we should leave." The two gents looked into the upset eyes of their eldest son. "There are...complications."

Geoff squinted his eyes and leaned his head to the side in puzzlement. "What why?"

"Look over there, at the man in the blue shirt. Look familiar?"

Geoff looked over to the man, who was still looking at Gavin. Occasionally he'd pull a black object from his pocket and talk into it. Then he'd put it back and walk off somewhere causally before coming back and repeating the ritual minutes later. "That's creepy as fuck, man. Why's he stalking Michael and Gav...?" Geoff's eyes widen with realization. "Ohhh that's one of the bitches that were in our yard yesterday!"

"Yeah, but he's not studying both of them. When Michael and I were standing away from Gavin we caught him looking at the little guy sometimes."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. "Weren't the guys looking at cameras and such? Couldn't he be a security guard here making sure three teenage boys don't screw up their stuff? Besides the men in the yard were wearing slacks and white polos with red ties. That guy's dressed like a typical security guard."

"Ohhh." Ryan and Geoff said in unison. They looked at the man and realized he didn't look anything like either of the men who were trespassing in their lawn, Ryan face palmed and sighed. "B-but his facial features, and his glasses, the hair... everything besides the clothes look the same. He musta changed or something. He's spying on use, he must be!" Or at least Gavin, I dunno why but that's the only thing making sense at this point."

"Ryan, maybe you're just still surprised about the thing from earlier. Babying Gavin around for a month has made you soft." Geoff patted the boy on the back. "Now let's go round everyone up and get to that restaurant." Ryan continued to protest, determine to convince his fathers that it was the man from before, but they weren't hearing any of it. He finally gave up and followed the family through the museum's exit, looking back before the door closed completely. The man was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Gavin sound like they're freaking together sometimes, geez. :/  
> As you can see I'm a heavy shipper of Freewood, but I assure you they're just like really close brothers and nothing more. Because in their let's plays and podcasts and blah blah blah where I see Gavin and Ryan together they seem to have a stereotypical older and younger brother thing going on. Well at least I think so.


	5. "Boo"dapest Anyone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family finally gets to that Hungarian restaurant Gavin was going on about. There are minor strange occurrences, but no one sees them except Michael and Ryan. But something happens so that Ray eventually catches on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter I know, but it's sort of just a filler to introduce new ideas and foreshadow.

**Nobody** could help but laugh at Gavin's enthusiasm as he looked at all the choices the menu had to offer, not even the waitress. He'd wanted to go to a Hungarian restaurant for awhile now and was so happy to finally be at one. Everyone ordered their hard to pronounce meal and waited, talking about various things.   
  
"It was insane though! The rhino's dick was just hangin I'm like 'kids are seein' this! That's crazy.'" The children laughed.  
  
"Ray." Geoff hissed, partially shielding his face from nearby guests and lowering it. "Let's keep the language public appropriate huh? People are watching and it's weird."  
  
"Okay, but I was just trying to tell my awesome story."  
  
"For what it's worth, Ray, I rather enjoyed your story. And so I gift you with a napkin." Everyone giggled as Kdin balled up a napkin and threw it at the Puerto Rican, even Ray himself.   
  
"Ryan why do you keep looking over at the door, ya donut?" Ryan turned to looked at the smaller boy to right, a quizzical look on his tan face.  
  
"Mmm, not looking at the door really. More like things and people around it." He lied. "Just...observing." Ryan wasn't willing to shake off the event from the museum. Especially not because of the thing with the men in their lawn. Perhaps if the first of those things had not happened, he wouldn't mind the latter so much. But he knew that man in the museum was one of the ones lurking around their property. And he couldn't get rid of his hunch that they'd be seeing the two men some more. For what reason? He couldn't say. He had no clue or ideas or leads to even fathom a _guess_ as to why the man was watching Gavin. And he wasn't so troubled by the fact that his fathers didn't believe him, Michael believed him and they we're enough to protect Gavin at this point.  
  
Gavin laughed for a brief moment. "Hah you weirdo that stalks people."  
  
"Ryan the stalker guy." Michael chimed in.  
  
Lindsay sighed, pushing her red hair out of her face. So we have how many things for 'Ryan the blank guy' now?"  
  
"Cow guy.", "Fingering guy.", "Creepy mofo guy.", "Vinegar guy.", "Macintosh hater guy.", "Crazy Guy.". They continued to list things until three waitresses returned carrying the large number of plates and bowls for the large family. They set them down, handed out a kid's coloring page to all the kids and then left as the family thanked them.  
  
Caleb inspected his black and white picture of a rainbow scene and then looked at the two crayons it comes with. He looked at them with distaste. "I haven't gotten one of these since like...5 years ago. I wonder why they gave us these, surely they saw we're not little kids."  
  
"They probably saw how little Gavin looks and assumed we all are." Michael and Gavin turned to each other with smiles.  
  
"I don't even look lit'le, Micool. I'm taller than you."  
  
"Well they can't tell how tall you are if you're sitting down and haven't seen your legs." The curly head boy said as he ate his töltött tojás. "And why would they? I wouldn't bother to either with that face of yours."  
  
Gavin felt around his face as though to learn all of it's features. "My face?!"   
  
"Michael." Geoff gave him a scolding look then looked at Gavin. "There's nothing wrong with your face, buddy."  
  
Gavin blushed and cupped his cheeks I between his hands. "Thanks dad." Everyone had gotten used to being called 'brother', 'sister,', 'dad', or 'father' by the Brit, but it still never failed to give them a warm happy feeling in their hearts.  
  
"Oh look." Ryan said excitedly. "If we color this paper and sign our name on it we get a free... 'Linzer torta'?"  
  
"Ohhhh!" Gavin drawled with gleefully. "I've heard of a Linzer torta. They sound top!" Gavin began to eat his food slightly quicker so he could move on to the coloring page. The family was still surprised to this day at how much he could put away in spite of his thin build. He then began to color his picture of two puppies in, Kerry and Michael teased him because of how neat he was being. But he ignored it and finally finished his picture. He held it up for everyone to see and they all complimented him on it, even Michael and Kerry. One by one the kids would finish their pictures and hold in up to show the others, and sometimes they'd trade or barter crayons if they grew bored of the ones they already had.  
  
"Ray may I barrow your red crayon?"  
  
"Trade you it for your green one."   
  
Gavin hugged the green one to his chest and playfully pouted at him. "But it's my favorite." He whined.   
  
"Fine you big baby." Ray handed him the red crayon without collecting payment, and while Jack and Geoff weren't looking flipped him off with a playful smile. 

"Cheers, Ray." Gavin gasped and stuck his tongue out as revenge. He was the last of the kids to finish coloring, after looking it over and deciding it wasn't good enough a million times. Then he neatly signed " _Gavin Ramsey :D_ ". on the top of the page and scooted over Ryan to exit their booth and go to the front desk. A tall woman with blonde curly hair came up to the front desk and smiled at the boy.

"Hallo." He greeted with a friendly smile.

She chuckled and pointed at the picture. "Hello, you must be here for the Linzer torta as well?"

"Oh yes please, that'd be lovely." He handed the woman the paper and told him to hold on just a moment, that she had to go back to the kitchen to get the desert. Gavin couldn't help but look through the small window in the kitchen's door as he noticed the tall woman talk with a man inside. He'd look away whenever they turned to point or look at him, which was quite often throughout their conversation. Gavin pretended to not be paying attention and then bring his attention back suddenly as the kitchen door opened and the woman returned with the Hungarian delight. Had Gavin not been spying through the window when she picked up the torta, he may have assumed it was poisoned. 'Were they talking about me in there?' he thought as he thanked the woman and went back to the booth.

"What took so long, Gavin?" Jack looked up from his phone. "Everything okay?"

He sat down smiling at the bearded gent. "Yeah...yeah they just had to prepare another one for me, ran out and such." Ray glanced at the Brit suspiciously, he wasn't buying it. He wanted to ask him the real reason he took so long, they way he stood at the counter and acting all...secretive. It didn't seem right, but Ray didn't want to bother the teen with it while they were supposed to be out having fun, so when Gavin caught him looking he simply said, "The Linzer thing's good."

"Mhmm." He agreed, stuffing another bite in his mouth. "Who wants to try mine?" Gavin asked holding a fork full of the dessert out. "It has grape filling."

Ray leaned over and took the bite into his mouth. He chewed it slowly and swallowed, then shrugged. "Mine's better...can't say I really like it. Yeah it sucks."

" _Your's_ sucks, Ray!" Gavin pointed. "Mine's better. People like grapes."

Michael scoffed playfully. "Grapes  _suck,_ Gavin."

"Miiiiicoool!" The brit whined. The tabled erupted into gleeful laughter with no regard for the other occupants of the restaurant staring at them with wonder. Once everyone was done eating, and the two fathers eventually agreed to split the bill, the family climbed into their large SUV and drove home.

* * *

**"Knock** knock." Gavin rolled over in bed to see a smiling Ray leaning against the doorway. "Sup, Vav?"

"You don't have to knock to come in, ya donut." Gavin sat up and scooted onto the edge of the bed.

Ray chuckled sitting next to him. "Well ya know, thought I'd be polite and knock with my voice...any way I uh, got a question I'd like to ask." He twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"It's about the restaurant, when you brought up your coloring to get the torta thing. There's not freaking way it should have taken that long for that lady to bring you your's, like it literally took everyone else five seconds to get their's. And then she was giving you that weird look, you noticed it right?"

Gavin looked away from the Puerto Rican native, gazing down at his finger as he made circle shapes in his bed sheets. His voice was low and serious, a drastic contrast from his usual way of speaking. "You think I don't know it? That bird was trying to bore a hole through me, into my soul." Ray eyes widen in surprise at his sudden change of tone. "When she went into the back to get me a torta, she showed some man in the back my drawing."

"Oh?"

"He looked it over, but he only looked at the top of it, where I'd signed my name, and then they continued to converse. Periodically they'd look over at me and point and then resume talking. They were studying me, I haven't the slightest idea who they are though!"

Ray took hold of Gavin's chin to direct his gaze at him. "What did the man look like?"

"He looked like one of the men who were in our yard earlier today, but his attire was different. But I remember his face very well, I  _know_ it was him...the only difference was he was dressed as cook er something. Gavin sighed. Then he sprung up from the bed with a grin and beckoned towards the door. "But what's it's bugger all, nothin' to get our knickers in a wad about. Let's go play something, Titan Fall?"

Ray forced a faked chuckle to escape his lips and got up. "Guess I can whoop your hiney before bed, you're on." He really wanted to talk to Gavin about this, there were so many questions to be asked and so many answers to contemplate. He had a feeling that something wrong, and so he concluded that they'd have no choice but to talk of this in the future. Maybe it was his twelve year old mind, as imaginative as could be. Or maybe it was just his brother senses tingling, increasing his paranoia ten fold. As Ray followed Gavin out of the room, passed by Ryan who was exiting the game room. He gave the older boy a look, and in return he nodded knowingly.

 


	6. The Creeper Among Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While at the store with Geoff and Gavin, Ray and Lindsay encounter a fellow who is... peculiar to say the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaah I know, late update right? Apologies to you all, I've been so busy with summer assignments and bleh it's a lot. I've been working on bits and pieces of all of my works whenever I get the chance, so the process of finishing up a new chapter has taken awhile. Hope this makes up for my lateness, enjoy!
> 
> *-I just added on a deleted that was originally part of chapter 7, but having made changes to it, I'm adding it to the end of chapter 6.

**From** his room he heard to sound of Geoff and Gavin bickering down in the living room. Ray drowsily picked up his glasses from the windowsill and shuffled like a zombie out of the room. As he got closer to the stairs their words became clearer and clearer, and once he was descending them he heard them perfectly.

"Gavin." Geoff panted. "Gimme the bottle back or I'll make you cut your hair. Please"

He heard Gavin whining and whimpering as he spoke. "Bugger all if you cut it! I'll shave it before I give it back. I won't let you drink anymore." Ray crouched down so he could see between the stair railing without being seen by the two, who were arguing over a bottle of Dack Janiel's, Geoff's favorite liquor. "Dad...Don't you see it's bad for you?! This can cause anemia, hindered coordination, memory lapses, bad judgement, and distorted vision." Gavin panted as he ran around the table away from Geoff. "And the longer term effects include-"

"Okay, okay, okay." Geoff stopped running and leaned against the couch. "I know all that, Gav. But I don't care, besides I  _never_ drink enough to cause those short term things, that happens when you're intoxicated."

"B-but." Gavin stammered as he backed away from Geoff.

Geoff came closer to the lad calmly as though he were an animal startled easily, a gentle look in his eyes. "Please buddy, kids don't need to be holding stuff."

"Mmhn-mmhn." Gavin closed his eyes and held the bottle to his chest to guard it. "You mustn't drink anymore, Dad. No no no no!"

Geoff sighed and turned towards the office door. "Jack? Could you help me right fast?" Moments later the ginger haired man walked out of the office asking what he needed. "I just, eghhhh." He whined as he motioned his hands towards Gavin a few times.

Gavin looked at the gent offended before turning to Jack with pleading eyes. "Father! Tell him alcohol is  _very_ detrimental to his health. You get what where I'm comin' from, yeah?" Ray continued to look down from his hiding spot. He watched as Jack looked back and forth between the two who were just arguing over the bottle, he sighed and then looked at the Brit with an empathetic look.

"Gavin, it's okay for an adult to drink every once in a while. Nothing bad'll happen to him if he does, it's okay buddy."

Gavin looked at his bearded father with incredulity and betrayal. "You've both gone Barmy! Yes something bad will certainly happen, surely you see it."

The blue eyed gent swiftly tried to take the bottle while Gavin was distracted but his reflexes were slower. He huffed in annoyance but continued to be understanding with the boy. "Gavin..." he said in an exhausted matter. "why're you so determined to keep that away from me?" He pointed to the half empty bottle.  
 

"Because." He looked up at Geoff with solemn eyes hard as stone. His face was stern and unsmiling, eerily contrasting his usually bubbly self. "If you continue to drink you it'll begin to ruin your judgement...perpetually. You may begin to loose sight in who you are, who your family is, and how you should treat them. I hate to say it but it'll happen to  _any_ being on this planet, regardless of their physical and mental strength, if they drink for long enough. I can _assure_ you of that one." Gavin's face became softer as he looked down at the liquor with a sorrowful stare. He exhaled slowly before speaking again."That's what happened to my 'father' back in England..."

Geoff could only stand looking at the Brit, surprised by his behavior just now, he hadn't seen him like this since they'd first met. He knew this meant he was being serious about his words, the words that pierced his heart in a special way. Self-reproach clouded his soul and he clenched his chest, it felt as thought his heart were truly in pain now. He backed away and nodded his head in defeat. "I'm sorry, Gavin. Go pour out the rest of that bottle and throw it away, will ya?" Gavin gave him a quick hug and grinned as he ran towards the kitchen to dispose of the poisonous brew. Ray smiled and nodded at Gavin in admiration, even though he would not see it. 

' _Well done, Gav. Well freakin' done.'_ Ray thought as he went back to his room.  _'That was simple, all it took was a bit of running around, facts and opinions to make dad give in. Gavin, what are you, dude? You have such a big influence on everyone you meet. It's like magic or something.'_

 Ray laid in bed with his arms extended in front of him and his fingers going crazy on the DS's buttons. Before Aipom could take out Pikachu, Gavin pounced onto Ray's bed smiling and bouncing on his legs excitedly.  
  
"Get up, Ray, Dad's taking you, Lindsay, and I to the grocery store."  
  
Ray's eyes remained glued to the screen but he laughed and smiled back. "A little excited are we? It's a grocery store."  
  
"But you never know what lies in store for us."  
  
"I guess technically groceries?" He replied with sarcastic uncertainty.  
  
"Get up you silly donut and get ready. We'll all be downstairs waiting." Gavin rolled clumsily off the bed and exited the room. He sighed still a bit tired and got out of the bed. He made his bed and then went to make Kerry's and Caleb's, he was very neat and couldn't stand to see the three beds messy, it just looked disgusting to him. Then he went to the bathroom to take care of hygiene. In the room he went to his drawer and dressed in black cargo shorts and a red shirt that said "Let's Play".  
  
"My body is ready." He announced as he walked down the stairs.  
  
"Great!" Geoff clapped his hands together. "Let's get going, butt munchers."

* * *

**His** sleepy looking blue eyes began to actually reflect his current feeling. He watched in horror as Ray pushed their shopping cart up and down an aisle with Lindsay and Gavin inside. They'd occasionally crash into things but Gavin would stick his skinny arms out so the cart didn't touch anything, then Ray would spin the cart around and repeat the ritual. Geoff sighed, they weren't listening to him, it was like they couldn't hear. Gavin was 15 but at least 10 years younger at heart, and he brought that out in everyone else so they were even more childish than usual. Geoff was so happy it was really early and the store didn't have that many people in it yet.   
  
"Fuck my asshole." He whispered to himself as he looked around for the wild trio. _'I only turned around for a minute, how do I lose three maniacs in one minute?!'_  
  
The first one he found was Lindsay. She seemed to be picking out juice boxes before she noticed Geoff approach. "Hey dad," she sung cheerfully. "I found the flavor I want."  
  
"Lovely." He replied sarcastically. "You guys CAN'T act uncivil in public like that, you're 12 and 15 year olds. I thought you'd outgrown that stage by now."  
  
"I know, and I apologize." Geoff was grateful for Lindsay's mostly collected and peaceful personality, she was definitely the least immature of the children. "Just...got carried away. But at least we didn't break anything, that is not while we were all together." She added.  
  
"It's fine, just...where's Ray and Gavin?" He asked as he rubbed his temples.  
  
"I dunno, we went our separate ways after we got bored with the cart." She put the juice boxes in the cart and began to walk away. "I'll be in the candy aisle if you need me, 'kay dad?"  
  
"No no no no no. _No_." He said as he guided her back towards the shopping cart. " _Noooo_ nuh uh. We're all gonna reunite and then stay together until we get back home. I can't even imagine what your brothers are doing right now." Geoff mused at the last sentence he'd said and then smiled faintly as he pushed the basket. He loved how Gavin had only been with them a month, yet calling him things like 'your brother' and 'my son' felt so natural and so right. They had all grown so close to the British young man, which is why when Geoff found him stacking crates to reach a high shelf he calmly scolded him. "Gavin...what're you doing?"

"I'm trying to reach the frosties, they're too high up." He grunted as he reached for a box.

"You and your British terminology," Lindsay snickered. "What are 'frosties'?"

"I don't know what you call them in America." He replied as he began to fall back and the crates tumbled over. Geoff ran up to catch him before he could hit the ground, much to Gavin's disappointment, he didn't like the idea of people scrambling to do something for his sake.. "Thank you, Dad, but that wouldn't have been a bad fall."

Geoff scoffed. "For you it would. And if I let any of you guys get hurt doing somethin' like that your father'd bitch about it to the moon and back." He looked down at the orange cereal box Gavin was clutching as he put him down. "We call those frosted flakes, by the way." Geoff already knew what the lad was going to do as soon as he placed the box in the cart, so just as he did he grabbed Gavin and gently placed him in the cart. Before Gavin could ask he said, "Just to make sure I don't lose you again." with a teasing wink. He knew Gavin hated to stay still and was already laughing as he anticipated the whining and foolish excuses the boy would surely try to use to escape.

"Dad." He whimpered. "Can I come out, pleeeease? It's cramped with all this stuff in here."

"There's like 4 things in there with your little ass." Geoff laughed. "You'll be fine. Lindsay, could you go find Ray and bring 'im back? I wanna get this shopping done quick."

"Roger that." Lindsay saluted and went off on her search. Geoff began to roll the basket slowly down aisles, looking at the shelves as he went and stopping occasionally when he saw something from his list, from someone's cookies or fruit snacks to the yogurt and frozen pizzas. As he walked he tried his best to disregard the look Gavin was giving him from inside the cart. A blank, emotionless stare he knew would bother Geoff to no end. He did this when the gent was lying on the couch watching Jeopardy, but he wanted him to play games with him. Or when he wants Geoff to carry him. Usually he'd give in to the Brit's stare, but not today. 

"Are you studying me or something?"

"I wanna get out of the trolley." Gavin whimpered. "I look like a right mong in here...people are looking." He added as people passing by looked at him at smiled, he would smile back but inside the little Englishman wanted to die.

Geoff reached out to pinch Gavin's cheek and tug at it before replying. "They're just seeing out cute you look." Gavin blushed and turned away from his dad. As they kept on walking they came across the alcohol section of the store and a lump formed in the young man's throat, he turned back at his father to see if he'd go to it and was a bit surprised when he walked past it. Not a single indication he wanted to stop or even look at it, Geoff just continued on and went towards the frozen goods section.

 

She looked down every single aisle in search of the Puerto Rican native and still no signs of him. It wasn't until she got to the last one that she saw him, and he was speaking with someone. She walked towards them hesitantly, eyeing the strange looking man. "Hey Ray, I hate to break up your 'chat', but dad wants us get back."

"I was just about to go find you guys." Ray said with over exaggerated glee. "Let's get going now, shall we?" They turned around and began their journey down the aisle, not a single word was said to the man. They walked faster and faster until they were power walking away. 

 

Although they were in a whole new part of the enormous store, they still felt chills when they thought of the strange man. Occasionally they would argue to see who would check behind them next, although the man was never there it was a creepy feeling for the two siblings, and it became even creepier when finally the man _was_ there.

"Fuck." Ray hissed. "He's like fucking Slender Man. Do you...just wanna see what he wants so the asshole will leave us alone?"

"What a nuisance...screw it why not? As you say 'yolo right'?" The two young preteens inhaled and gave each other encouraging looks, then they walked calmly towards the man who was pretending to look at cat food before he looked down at the two kids. "Hello, sir."

"Hey children, I don't mean to be a nuisance," _'too fucking late, jerk'_ Ray thought. "I just have a few questions I need to ask you two, if you don't mind." He spoke in a very formal matter, and sort of like a detective. He sounded like one of those important guys in films that have places to be and urgent business to attend to.

Lindsay crossed her arms and gave the man a curious look. "Sure. What about."

"And make it quick my sister and I need to get going soon."

"I'll make this as quick as possible. Firstly, who was that boy you two were with earlier, the one with long hair?"

"Our friend." Ray replied with the most normal voice he could fake. "Why?"

Although the man was wearing sunglasses they could see the doubt in his eyes. "A friend who goes with you to shop for groceries."

"What of it?" The small boy shot him an indignant glare. "Our dad babysits him, and he can't stay home while we're all out. Sorta defeats the point of babysitting."

"And I assume your father is the gentleman with the tattoos?"

"Mhmm."

The man remained silent for a moment and thought about this. He shuffled through the information he'd just been told and nodded. "I see. And what's your friend's name?"

"Flint Coal." Behind Lindsay's annoyed expression was laughter and a smile at the use of the inside joke.

"Interesting...and how do you spell that?"

"F-L-Y-N-T C-O-L-E." Ray lied to make it look like a human's name.

"Thanks. You all have a nice day now." The man nodded and suddenly spun around to walk away. When he was about 20 feet away from the two kids he stopped in his tracks completely frozen in place. Ray and Lindsay flinched slightly when the man turned around abruptly and quickly walked over to them. "I forgot." He bent down so that his eyes were on the same level as the two siblings. Then, he took off his sunglasses so two viscous brown eyes bore holes through them. "Don't tell 'Flynt' or your father about our little talk, got that?"

Lindsay put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow, challenging him. "Aaaand if we do?" 

He leaned forward so he was face to face with the young girl, a teeth baring snarl on his face. "Don't test me, little girl." He growled. "I haven't been told to hurt you damned brats, don't make me go against my orders because you can't keep your mouths shut." His tone told the two kids he wasn't joking, but still they did not care. A man who they'd never met or seen before finding out they would tell Geoff? How would he know?! He doesn't know where they live or where they like to go. This encounter at the store? Pure coincidence, just a lunatic bothering children and stalking their families in random places. Without another word they turned around and proudly marched away, showing the man he didn't faze them.

After looking down a few aisles they found Geoff looking at different flavors of coffee and a sad looking Gavin watching him from inside the cart. Lindsay and Ray wanted to laugh, but the look on Gavin's face put a stop to that. He looked like a puppy being forced to stay inside when it wanted to run outside and play. They also wanted to laugh when Geoff glanced over at the Brit and laughed at the restless look on his face, which caused him to whine and shake the cart.

 

"We...have returned!" Ray announced dramatically. "No need to worry anymore."

"Oh great we were just about to start worrying about you guys." Gavin joked. "So where have you two been?" 

"Oh, you know. Looking for candy." Ray lied. "Didn't find anything that good though. We about to leave?" Lindsay nudged him hard with her elbow, warning him to not sound so eager to go. "Because man am I  _hungry!_ " He added, trying to sound casual.

Geoff put two boxes of coffee into the cart and nodded. "Same, yeah we'd better get back home so we can use this food. Let's get goin'."

* * *

**"Dad?** Can we talk for a moment?" Lindsay came outside from the back door and walked towards Geoff at the grill.

"Sure, Linds. What's up?"

"When we were at that store earlier...the reason Ray and I took so long to get back was because we had a bit of an encounter with someone."

Geoff put down the bag of charcoal and sat down at the picnic table next to the grill. His eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head to the side. "With who?"

"Dunno." She shrugged. "Some creep...do you or father have some sort of debts or bills you've been neglecting?"

"Hmm." The gent looked up and scratched his head, as though he were trying recall something. "Mmmmm no. Pretty sure we don't. Why did they ask that?"

"Weeeell no, but he was asking about you and Gavin. He asked if you two were related to us." She explained the entire scenario from start up until they walked away. As Lindsay spoke her father would nodded his head and say 'uh huh' occasionally, and his face grew more and more angry.

"Well if you see the fucker again tell me. I'm sure he was just a random prick in the store, but still. Don't tell anyone I said this, not even father, okay?" Geoff gently took Lindsay's hands and guided her in front of him. He looked at her with calm yet serious eyes, a look only a father could give his child. Lindsay nodded and waited for what he'd say. "I love Gavin, he's my son. But this is the third time one of you has told me someone was creeping on Gavin-"

"Is it?" It was Lindsay's turn to look confused. "What else has happened?"

"At the museum Ryan told me some guy was watching Gavin, but I thought he was just exaggerating. Then late last night Ray was telling me some employees at the Hungarian place kept giving him weird looks when he went up to the counter. And even when he was sat down the bastards would glance in our direction when he got up to throw something away. But..." Geoff sighed and looked down. "I shoulda believed them. I got to thinking last night and...we still haven't legally adopted him, I'm wondering if a counselor or teacher found out and now they have social workers after us. "

"What if they do come?" She looked around their yard, as though expecting to see one now. She looked back at her father whose blue eyes were filled with sadness.

He sighed as he tried to think of the best way to explain. It wouldn't be an answer Lindsay would like, but he tried to make it as gentle as possible. "He would have to go to an orphanage. I'm sorry there's no better way to say it, just...don't tell Gavin and the others about that. Please." Something behind Lindsay caught his attention and when his sleepy looking eyes focused in on it his heart dropped. How did he only just now notice? Standing on the patio 20 feet away from them was a concerned looking Gavin with fear and hurt in his eyes.

Geoff stood up from the table and began to slowly advance towards Gavin, but as he went forward the boy went back. It was reminiscent of the first day they met as Gavin inched away from him until his back was against the glass door. "Gavin?"

"I don't want that to happen. They'll take me away from you guys, would you just let them."

Geoff was taken aback by the question and put a hand on his chest indignantly. "What? No, of course not! How could you say that?"

"How can I not say it, when you were just telling Lindsay about it so as a matter-of-factly, like it was just gonna happen and you wouldn't oppose it." Lindsay could only stand there as the two argued, looking from one upset face to the next. She wanted to shout at them to stop, but what would she say? Merely ordering them to quit would not work, so what else was there?

"I don't know how you could doubt me like that, doubt us like that. You've got it all wrong, Gavin. You see, if they find out you've been living here, and technically your parents are still your guardians, it could be legally seen as kidnapping."

"If they take me away, then would I go to-?" His voice trailed off as he noticed the look on Geoff's face. A defeated, pained look which held an answer but couldn't bare to say it out loud. An answer that Gavin didn't want. He didn't want it because he knew it was true.

The gent read his son's face and looked deep into his green eyes. He knew what the boy was waiting for, but he couldn't bare to say it so he merely nodded and said, "I'm so sorry, Gavin. I just don't know any other way."

"Ohhh I don't know uh, maybe um keep living how we have been?! I'm sorry to sound so selfish and demanding...but we don't know if any social workers are going to come. Let's just keep things as they are."

"We can not keep this up, after those men who were in our yard who kept following us-following you, I can confidently say there was only ONE reason they were there!" He shouted back, slightly surprised by the Brit's angry tone. "There's only one legal way for us to stick together." Geoff's voice was ragged and broken as he tried to keep his emotions under control. "And the process is so long. Even if we began today there's no telling how long before it's complete. Those fuckers could come back before than and then you'd have to- there's just no other way to solve this. Oh God Gavin I'm so sorry." He tried to come closer to him but Gavin put his hand on the door and looked him dead in the eyes. Green eyes that projected betrayal, hurt, sorrow, sorry, doubt. Gavin slowly shook his head at the gent before opening the door and running back inside. Geoff stomped his foot in frustration and sighed, he felt so terrible, he felt like he'd betrayed Gavin's trust and now he feared the lad had lost faith in him. He knew deep down it was the right thing for them, but other worries flooded his mind. Especially, what if this all failed? There's no guarantee they'd even be granted custody of Gavin, not when his legal guardians hadn't signed some magic contract that handed the young man over. They just...left. That's probably how things would go, but god forbid he got the nerve to tell the boy that.

"Dad?" Lindsay said sheepishly.

Geoff walked up to the young girl and kissed her forehead. "It's okay Linds. It'll be fine, okay?" Geoff held his pinkie finger out to her and a reassuring smile stretched across his face. After a moment of thinking Lindsay linked her pinkie with his and grinned back.


	7. A Lovely Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin has a buddy over! Also, Ryan has to get used to the fact that Gav's growing up, but the process won't prove very easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry sorry sorry sorry! It has been WAY TOO LONG. But I haven't as much time to write now that summer is gone and...school. *Cringes*
> 
> But aye I'm working on some other works as well.
> 
> So yeah...enjoy, and thank you for waiting! <3

A year went by slowly in the Ramsey household but they wouldn't have had it any other way. Though 365 days seemed to last forever, as did the carefree fun and quality time spent together. The strange encounters with random strangers no longer happened and everything was at peace through the year, it was tranquil and unadulterated. One thing that hadn't changed, however, is that Gavin was still legally Gavin Free. Jack and Geoff had went to the local adoption agency to ask hypothetically what would happened if they wanted to adopt a child from another country. The women told them that legitimate consent would have to be present from the child's birth parents, foreign or not, so that plan seemed to be a bust. But what if Gavin knew how to contact them? Geoff thought about this as he came down the stairs and rounded a corner into the hallway where the recreation room was. He approached the door and peered through the small crack of the slightly opened door. Ryan was sitting in Gavin's desk with the Brit standing behind him, so their backs were to Geoff. He squinted so that he could make out the faint red and white logo of YouTube and, being curious, simply listened to what they were saying.

"I revisited an old film I liked in my childhood, do you know of a movie called 'Carrie'? It was made in 1976 and it's based off of a Stephen King book." Gavin simply shook his head as he stood behind the chair. "Okay, well there's a song in it that I think you should hear." And with that he clicked on the play button and sat back to let the song seep into his ears. The song was about a girl who hadn't had the best life, but she should have. She was meant to have more, to live a life filled with anything she could ever want. The song was about a girl who had always been meant for a better life, but no one could see, no one could see how amazing she was. Nobody recognized her pure soul and potential for greatness, the kind of girl that belongs under the spotlight. And then there were the verses which stood out to Gavin the most, the ones that resounded in his ears and seeped into his being. Although it was not his ideal genre of music, he placed a hand over his chest and let the song consume him.

'You were born to touch...born to want to much, 'Born to have it all...and if you could cry, it would only be for more','Born to be the girl in the mirror, and the others want to be her','Oh, cause she has it all'. Gavin looked down at his brother, eyes wide and filled with confusion. "It's a lovely song, but why have you shown it to me?"

"I can only think of you when I hear this song. I know you're not a girl, but you should have never had to cry because of pain and sorrow, it should've never happened. You should only cry for more...more of the things that you without doubt deserve, anything you love."

"I love you." Gavin's replied as a matter of factly. "I love all of you, so very much."

Ryan pulled the boy down towards him and engulfed him with a hug. "I love you too, Gav...I love you too." Geoff backed away from the door and leaned against the wall. Was there really any way he could risk taking this away from him, something he'd always wanted and always deserved? The gent was so consumed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Gavin had exited the room and was now poking his head, trying to get his attention.

"Dad. Dad. Daaaaad." He looked up suddenly and sighed, the lad's mood had changed quickly.

"Oh, hey buddy. What's up?"

"What're you doing on the floor?"

"Nothin'," He lied, patting the carpet around him. just admiring this lovely floor, it's pretty comfortable."

"Ummm yeah. Anyway, I was wondering if I could have a friend over today and spend the night?"

"Woah you have friends?" Geoff laughed at the joke but it caused the young boy to pout and whine. He crossed his arms across his chest and pretended to be upset by the question. "So who is your friend?"

The brit's eyes lit up and a wide grin sprouted on his face as he went into his explanation. "He's called Daniel Gruchy, but he likes to be called Dan. He goes to my school but he's also in the filmography club with me, we met when the instructor paired us up for a lit'le project. Remember the slow motion video I did? He was my partner for it, and we've been pals ever since. He's really top, dad! He is on the drill team at school and wants to go into the military some day. And...he's from England!"

"That's good, Gav. He sounds awesome, what time did you want him to come over?"

"At 12:30." He looked down at his watch and furrowed his eyebrows.

"That's like 5 minutes from now, why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Because he's probably almost here, so you can't say no now." Gavin shot his dad a cheeky smile before walking off towards the living room where Jack was. "Father, my friend's coming over today! He's absolutely top..."

Geoff groaned as he rose from the floor and rolled his eyes. Gavin had a talent for doing things like that, not that he really needed to, for even if he'd asked an hour or week in advance the gent couldn't have said no to those big green eyes. He reflected on the past year and chuckled at himself, he'd become soft since Gavin came into their lives, but he was fine with that. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Gavin shouting and running for the front door. He opened it and standing there was a boy who Gavin hugged and pulled inside. The boy was tall and broad shouldered with muscular arms. He had short dark brown hair and matching eyes, and his attire consisted of a black T-shirt and red knee length shorts, in short he was a good looking young man. Gavin motioned towards the boy who smiled shyly.

"Dad, father, this bloke is Dan."

"Hallo, pleased to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Dan." Jack said sweetly as he shook the brit's hand. "I'm Jack."

He went over to Geoff and did the same thing. "Sweet accent, nice to meet you. So when did you come to America, Dan?"

"About...oh I'm not sure, two years ago?"

"Oh nice, well make yourself at home and uhh...yeah enjoy your stay." Dan looked back and thanked the two parents as he was pulled towards the recreation room by Gavin.

"Ry-bread, meet Dan. Dan, this is my brother Ryan." They exchanged greetings and they all sat down to a game of worms. They laughed and joked and laughed some more, it'd been a very great time before they all grew bored of video games and Ryan suggested they go out back and swim in the pool. From his spot of the couch Jack began to hear really loud laughing and commotion from outside, even by Gavin standards they were loud. So out of curiosity, the bearded man got up to spy out of kitchen window that over looked much of the vast backyard. From where he stood he could see three boys inside of the pool. They appeared to be playing Marco Polo and every time Dan found him and grabbed him from behind Gavin would let out a high pitched squawk and laugh. It was usually a jagged, squeaking laugh but Jack loved it nonetheless and nodded in approval before turning around and returning to the living room. Jack had noticed that for the last 4 months-that was after he finished his slow motion video project-Gavin's level happiness had increased tenfold, something he didn't know was possible. So he wondered if it was Dan who caused this, and if he did, he was very thankful to the young Englishman.

"The Mad King is not amused!" Dan shouted at the older boy cursing and thrashing around in the water. "So aren't you a bit old to be having a hissy? It's just Marco Polo."

"Fuck! No that's not it," he lied. "I just...I-I got water in my nose." Dan began to make baby noises and mock him, if he were truly such a sore loser playing games with Ryan would be marvelous.

"Awww wittle Wyan got a wit'le water in his nose from being in a _swimming pool._ " Ryan knew Dan was just messing around, of course, but it irritated him nonetheless. So much, in fact, he waded towards the Brit in as threatening a manner as the water slowing him down would allow. "Oh and now the wit'le Wyan's chasing me!" Ryan let out another curse because Dan was closer to the edge than he was, so he had quicker access to escape. As soon as he was out of the pool's watery hold the blue eyed gent began to chase Dan around the yard, even going into the front yard sometimes. The chase was ended when a football came flying at Ryan and Dan pulled him out of it's path, so it plummeted to the ground instead of Ryan's back.

"Shit, Simeon! You fucking missed." Dan and Ryan whipped their heads to the direction of the voices, and they saw two boys advance towards them.

"Doesn't matter," the one apparently named Simeon replied. "what's a football gonna do anyway?"

Ryan, being polite as usual, cleared his throat and calmly talked to the boys, who appeared to be around their ages. "Excuse me, but this is private property. You can't just go around walking on people's yards like that."

"Go fuck yourself, Ramsey," One of the spat. "we aren't leaving till you're beaten to a PULP...or something worse." Dan's eyes narrowed at the young man and his thick eyebrows furrowed.

"What business have you got with him? He doesn't seem to even know you." His head turned quickly in Dan's direction and he snarled at the dark haired boy with yellow, crooked teeth.

"What's it to you?!" He shouted with a mock British accent. "British fuck, mind your own business. We DO know Ryan and he's a bastard."

The aforementioned gent shot him a indignant look, genuinely confused. "I haven't the slightest idea who you two are...care to explain how you know I'm a 'bastard'."

The boy, who was called Lester, smiled sadistically and simply replied, "Rooster South high school vs. Gauntlet high. Football game. Last quarter." It took a moment to click in his head, but once he did he snapped his fingers and recalled the event. He'd had a football game just last week against Gauntlet high, his school's absolute rivals. It'd been the last quarter and, being the one with the ball at the moment, it was up to the gent to score the final point that would break the tie and win them the game. Throughout his journey towards the end zone, he'd been met with three forms of opposition-three rival players-and it became something out of a sports movie. Each one was sent flying and plummeting to the ground by the mad king, their attempts to tackle were in absolute vain and Ryan ended up with a touch down and win for his team. He recalled the boys' coach coming out onto the field and berating them harshly.

"Ohh that's right!" He said nonchalantly, as if he'd just remembered something insignificant. "Well I will say I would be pretty pissed about that...for like a day. It's part of the _game_ , and it isn't anybody's fault your coach is a dick except his own. That game isn't very important anymore."

"Not important...you don't know the half of it. Our entire team was pissed off at us for that, they still haven't let us see the end of it. You're gonna pay."

"And how is that?"

"Kick your ass, hurt you physically and emotionally, if you will."

"My mind is a steel trap s-" Cut off by a sudden thought his mouth clamped shut and he began to wonder. 'and emotionally'? He wondered. 'What exactly would he do then'? Then he noticed something that was actually very obvious: Out of the three boys he recalled only two were present, where was the third one? 'hurt emotionally' and 'something worse' popped into his head again, and it made sense. Without warning Ryan spun around and made a run for the backyard. He knew they were awful, subhuman scum, be he didn't imagine they'd try harming him by harming someone dear to him. "Gavin!" He rounded the corner expecting to see a horrid sight, and indeed he did, but it wasn't the one he'd anticipated.

His little brother looked up from his seat on the lawn chair at the mention of his name and smiled. "Hey Ry-bread."

"What happened to this guy?" He pointed at the boy lying on the ground next to the pool and the two other ones calling his name, 'Ron'.

"Bloody little shitehead pulled me outta the pool while I wasn't looking and pinned me to the ground! Look." Gavin turned around and the older boy grimaced at the sight. The brit's back was red, slightly bloody, and scratched from him being drug harshly against concrete. "Right beat his arse, I did." Ryan looked over at Ron once again and took note of his bloodied nose and face, as well as the way he clenched arm in pain. He went closer to the lad and hugged him, forgetting the wound on his back.

"Argh," he hissed. "okay okay stop. Geez what's the hug for?" He grinned and lied to the Brit.

"Just felt like it." A feeling of relief and pride washed over the older boy, like a father who'd just witness his child win at something. He'd handled himself, he'd beaten a football player, and his wounds were minimal compared to the Ron's. His little brother was getting stronger and more independent all the time, which made him happy, but like a parent he was still coming to terms with the fact that Gavin was no longer the child-like 14 year old that clung to him in sleep and rode on his back. He was now a 16 year old (slightly less child-like) young man who always refused to be carried and no longer liked to be babied by Ryan. That hurt him, but at the same time it reassured him, it reassured him that Gavin was capable of remarkable growth and an ability to thrive. "Well," Ryan concluded. "that was anticlimactic, I didn't even get to utilize violence."

"Yeah on account of the pricks leaving like abuncha cowards," Dan remarked with disgust. "right bastards they are. But we should get you patched up, B."

"Right." He rose from the chair with a grunt and began to walk alongside the fellow Brit towards the door.

"Hey Gav," Ryan called out. "would you rather me carry you inside?"

"Naw, I'm good." 'Ouch' He thought. 'No hesitation or even a glance back.' That truly hurt him as well, a year ago Gavin would have already charged at him and leaped into his arms by now, but it's the present. The present where Gavin walked everywhere without a second thought of the gent. The present where the two of them have two separate circles of friends and typically didn't see each other at school. The present where Dan was the main receiver of his affection, not Ryan.

* * *

 

The wet cotton ball made contact with his skin and the pain was far beyond what Gavin would've imagined, and he tried to escape it with everything he had. "Gavin, hold still! It'll only hurt for a moment."

"It's been hurting ever since you started, 20 minutes ago."

"It'd be shorter if you didn't move, ya know." Geoff cursed when Gavin found his way out of Jack's grasp and ran out of the bathroom. "What a baby, how can it hurt that badly?" Geoff ran out of the bathroom after him and left Jack to sigh and glance over at the heavy duty peroxide. "Ryan, Dan. Gavin. Find."

"What, dad?"

"Gavin ran off like a baby when we tried to clean his wounds, I'd never find him by myself in his house, so I'm leaving that up to you two." Dan stood up from his spot on the couch and went for the stairs.

"We've got 'em."

 

They did not have him. Maybe if they'd had help from the other children, who were all on an after school field trip, they would have already found him, but after 15 minutes they were starting to become discouraged. "Now if I were a Gavin I would be hiding in the stupidest places no normal human being would think about." "I give." Ryan declared as he threw his hands up in defeat. "I realize this house has A LOT of places to hide but this is ridiculous. I'll be in my room reading." And with that he walked down the hall and around a corner to his and Gavin's bedroom. Dan groaned and contemplated quitting himself, but he wasn't really one to do so. He knew his friend would get bored of hiding and come out eventually but only The Lord knew how long that would take. As he started down the hall in the opposite direction Ryan went, he came to a dead end and noticed something peculiar. A square brown panel like thing was suspended on the ceiling, and upon looking up he saw that it was covering a hole in the ceiling with the same shape.

"Psh, you could've at least closed it once you got up there, Gavin, you twite." He laughed softly and went into the guest room to get a chair. "C'mon, Ryan I've got 'em!" A few seconds later he was rounding a corner and looked up at the opened door.

Understanding, a smirk formed on his face and he shook his head. "It was opened, right?" Dan laughed and nodded, then, being careful not to fall, they stood on the chair and hauled themselves up into the attic. They were glad to see two small windows that served as a source of light in the still fairly dark room. It was shaped like a triangle and look very old, but it contained interesting looking things, ranging from old clothing to antique looking bookshelves to ancient looking televisions.

"C'mon, B. I don't wanna have to search for you."

"Please, Gavin this is childish." So how would they lure him out? Lie about a food his dad was cooking? Say some cute girl had come to visit him? No...Gavin was a twit but he wasn't as stupid as one would think. He was, however, stupid enough to bump into a floor lamp as he crept from one area to the next and give away his position near a few large boxes. Like a deer in headlights Gavin remained frozen with eyes as big as saucers and like a puma Dan pounced and pinned him to the floor, causing a cloud of dust to form from the impact.

"Hey, B." Gavin sputtered as he breathed in the dust. "You're getting dust in my wound!"

"Shoulda thought of that before you came up here, yeah?" Gavin tried to squirm away but with all of Dan's weight on him it proved fruitless.

"Get off me you silly lit'le gite."

"Will you come down and get your wound treated?"

"Nope!" He replied with a cheeky grin. "So you can sod it."

The taller boy sighed and shook his head in disapproval. "Pity. I didn't want to do this, but..." His hands found their way to Gavin's sides and his fingers went mad as they began to tickle him. The lad thrashed and kicked about and squealed as he tried to escape. He begged for relief, to be let go, but such a thing didn't happen for him. He did, however, manage to get his arms off of the floor and under Dan's arm pits, which he quickly discovered was his most ticklish spot. "Ahh, dang it...B...B stop!" He forced out between laughs. "Pleeease!" This tickle fight continued until they were both exhausted and yet laughing hysterically, they hadn't even noticed Ryan leave the attic red faced with steam practically shooting from his ears. Panting, Dan collapsed and he was no longer just straddling the other boy, but lying on top of him. They remained silent for a moment, only labored breathing slowly becoming quieter and the occasional creaks of the house filled the air. Once he felt his heart rate become normal Dan got up off of the floor and pulled a pink faced Gavin up as well, gripping his wrist to insure he wouldn't escape the grasp. Surprisingly, he was met with no opposition from the younger boy, he passively allowed himself to be guided back to Jack and Geoff.

* * *

 

"You've really got such a lovely and fun family." Dan said as he tried to keep track of which bike was his on the screen.

Ray shrugged. "We're only fun towards people we like, otherwise we pretend to be a normal family." And they all, without doubt, truly liked Dan. In the few hours they'd down him everyone already grew to admire him, particularly Ray and Michael who lovingly nick named him 'Dan the Man'. At dinner they were almost as captivated as Gavin was when the young Englishman told various anecdotes and things about himself, which everyone thought was amazing. Dan was genuinely humble, blushing and casting his smiling face downward when someone noted how 'top' or 'amiable' he was. For some reason they were all drawn to him and he instantly got the 'best friend' status.

"I see, well I'm glad you all are fond enough of me."

"I'm glad Gavin is fond enough of you." Ray replied as he beat Dan to the finish line once again. Slightly distracted by the loss it took him longer to process the response before he could reply.

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"Well, Gavin was an emotional wreck at one point, a little over a year ago. As time went on he became better and started returning to the goofy, happy, and cheeky guy he truly is, but you could see he was not all the way...'there'." He grew silent again and inserted a new game into his xbox, handing a copy of it to Dan who did the same.

"I'm very pleased with his change, but what have I got to do with it?"

"When you and Gavin started that slow motion project he'd come home some days beaming, talking about how glad he was to have a fellow Englishman around or how fun this Englishman was. So ever since then he's been much happier, you probably make him feel less homesick."

"Really? He was so happy about just knowing me?"

"Who wouldn't?" Ray chuckled. "But really, he needed a best friend outside of the family. Not that he doesn't have friends from school and the film club, but they apparently didn't make do it for him."

"So...he's no longer depressed or sad anymore right? He only shows glee, doesn't he?"

"Pretty much, yes. I'm not trying to be all cheesy and stuff but I care for Gavin and it's just absolutely wonderful to see him in such bright light, so thank you." A wide grin of contentment found its way onto Dan's face in that moment, and it remained their for a long time. Whenever it threatened to disappear, he'd think of Gavin no longer being sad and the smile remained strong. It remained there until his cheeks were sore and his eyelids were heavy, and when he saw that it was 30 minutes until midnight he knew it was time to rest. Dan ascended the stairs and went to Gavin and Ryan's room and found that the older teen was already asleep, and the only light in the room was the screen of Gavin's phone.

"Oh," He sat up in the bed and beckoned him to come near. "close the door and come on in."

"We never discussed where I was sleeping, B."

He scooted over in the bed and patted the now empty spot next to him, flashing a welcoming smiling although it was probably not visible. "Right here," he said nonchalantly. "don't be shy now."

"Ummm..." He was slightly uncertain about the idea. "What's the matter?"

Despite his uncertainty he didn't want to appear rude by declining his friend's hospitality. "N-nothing, I just-nothing." He chuckled nervously and took of his socks before easing down into the bed next to Gavin, instantly feeling his body shutting down into sleep mode.

Gavin yawned and placed his phone on the nightstand "Hey, B?"

"Hmm?"

"Wanna go out with Micool, Ryan, and I tomorrow?"

He was too tired to form words and answered with deep mumble-like sounds.

"Mmm."

"Is that a yes?"

"Mhmm"

"Am I your best friend, Dan?"

"Urghhm"

"Great." Gavin settled down into the most comfortable position he could find and finally closed his eyes when the sleepiness came to claim him as well. "You're my best friend as well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This chapter is an intro to 'part 2' of the fic.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy, and please leave some comments! They help me quite a lot.


End file.
